Last Week I received the following message:

For Religious Educators and Ministers as well as Parents

I See You

As religious educators and teachers we are asked to do a lot with limited time to create a welcoming and inclusive ministry for all the children who come to our churches. Some religious educators are part time, parent/teachers are busy with the daily activities of caring for families and making a living, and ministers have an entire congregation to care for. We are not a social service agency, so how do we respond to children that need more time and attention than others?

If you have attended one of my workshops, you know that I emphasize cultivating an attitude which looks for the positive in children rather than focusing on the negatives implied by the label. Children are more apt to act in constructive ways when they feel positive, unconditional regard from the adults leading the religious education (RE) program. Instead, what often happens is that teachers expect behavior based on past inappropriate behavior or based on the deficits implied by the label. Therefore it becomes easy to fall into the trap of trying to control the behavior rather than trying to understand why children are behaving the way they do. We do not have to condone the behavior in order to embrace the child. And really it is as simple as that. Conveying to the child, “I see you, not the label, not the difficult behavior,I see you.” All the teaching techniques in the world are ineffective without the attitude of positive, unconditional regard for all the children in your RE program. Changing our minds about the children we perceive as difficult frees us to be more creative and our task becomes easier. We do not have to be a social service agency; we do not have to do it all in one hour Sunday morning and at other church events. All we have to do is affirm the worth and dignity of every child by seeing past the labels to each child’s unique gifts. The rest will follow.

This comes from Sally Patton, who is a Unitarian Universalist educator and parent.

Sally has also written a Declaration On Celebrating The Whole Child. You can see and sign it HERE. If you want more information about the work shops Sally provides   about making your congregation a welcoming place for all children you can visit her web site HERE.
If you want to read about how one IDC member congregation is welcoming children with disabilities in their religious education program you cand read a success story HERE.

I would love to know what you think?

I was grateful to be included in an exciting conversation yesterday,via Facebook, about the pastoral issues that are raised when clergy present sermons and teaching related to healing stories in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament.

A fellow Candler alum was writing for a commentary on the Book of Isiah chapter 35. This passage beginning at verse 5 reads:

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like deer, and the tongue of the dumb shall shout aloud; For waters will burst forth in the desert , Streams in the wilderness.

Given this pronouncement the questioner wanted to know:

I’m trying to finish up an essay on Isaiah 35 for one of the Feasting on the Word commentaries (I’m doing the pastoral perspective, as opposed to homiletical, theological, or exegetical) and am struggling over the promise that the blind will see, deaf will hear, lame will leap, mute will sing. I realize that this is a theme that echoes throughout Scripture, including with Jesus’ own life. But I am also aware of the growing understanding of people living with disabilities being differently-abled as opposed to disabled. I know that the Deaf Culture, for instance, has a strong sense of their deafness as something to be embraced, not to be fixed.

What I’m wrestling with is how big of a pastoral concern this understanding might be for a preacher dealing with Isaiah 35 (or any other healing story). I know that my own mother, who has paraplegia, would much prefer to walk - there is no question that her paralysis is something she would wish healing for. I know that her desire is not necessarily a universal desire, as the biblical writers might assume, but I am guessing that it would be the majority view.

What I’m looking for from those of you who have tagged is a couple of things:
1 - do you think it’s a valid pastoral issue when preaching healing texts, to at least consider the fact that many of those who are differently-abled are not looking to be fixed?
2 - could you point me to any resources that might explore this further? .

I am interested to know what some of you who preach and teach on these stories think?

I will leave some of my thoughts in the comments

I want to say a word of thanks to Pat Kahn, Reverend Marti Keller and Chance Hunter at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta for inviting me to come and speak to the congregation this past Sunday.

UUCA is a congregation on the journey toward the full-inclusion of people with disabilities. I am grateful that they are actively engaged in this important conversation.

Below you will find links to the readings prior to Sunday’s sermon and then the sermon:

A Reading from Strong At The Broken Places

A Reading from Grace (Eventually)

From Silence To Song

I would love your feedback.

Today, April 2, 2008 is World Autism Awareness Day. In the spirit of the observance I would like to offer you the following facts from the World Autism Awareness Day Web site:

Did you knowâ?¦

• Autism affects as many as 1 in 150 children and 1 in 94 boys
• Autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the world
• More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with diabetes, cancer, & AIDS combined
• Boys are four times more likely than girls to have autism
• There is no medical detection or cure for autism, but early diagnosis and intervention improve outcomes
• Autism does not discriminate by geography, class, or ethnicity

You can do something today to learn and share with your congregation and community about Autism. Look here for information about events in your area and look here for opportunities to learn more about Autism.

I will be attending an event at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta this evening. If you happen to be in the Atlanta area you should consider attending

The title of this post comes from a sermon titled: The Spirit of Access: Welcoming Each Other, Not Defining The Other. The sermon was preached by Rev. Joel Miller at the Unitarian Univesalist Congregation of Buffalo.

Reverend Miller makes some good observations. I certainly commend the entire sermon to you. I am especially interested in his thought about the foundations of a spirituality of Accessibility . He speaks about this way:

The Spirit of Access is the welcoming spirit: it’s the practice of welcoming one another without thinking we know who they are and what they need. It’s the essential practice of spiritual hospitality: meeting one another without presumption, without pre-judice, without assuming we know who we are seeing, but, instead, asking, listening, and sharing.

Meet, ask, listen, share: this is the practice in the Spirituality of Accessibility. It’s our way of making our lives a shared blessing, a way of encouraging each other to become more than we are now, our common journey past the limitations we all must endure to world in which everyone knows they have a place and are fully welcomed.

Meet, Ask, Listen Share. This is the practice of a spirituality of Accessibility! May we continue to practice this spirituality until we know it by heart.

Interfaith Disability Connection

The Shepherd Center and

First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta

Present:
That All May Worship: Beyond The Ramp

A Discussion of Religion, Acceptance and Inclusion

August 3,2008

Shepherd Center Atlanta, GA

Interfaith Disability Connection (IDC), The Shepherd Center and the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta will present this educational conference Sunday, August 3 at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Titled, That All May Worship: Beyond the Ramp, this one-day event will focus on how religious communities can make their houses of worship even more accessible to those with disabilities. Topics will go beyond eliminating physical barriers and discuss creating services and programs in which all members can easily participate.

The event will be led by Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, Reverend Al Mead, Imam Furqan Muhammad and Ginny Thornburgh; four leaders in religion and disability education.

Leaders in religious communities and disability communities, advocates and friends are invited to take part in this conference on religion, acceptance, and inclusion. Attendees will gain the knowledge, resources and motivation to make positive changes in their religious communities.

Rabbi Lynne F. Landsberg is Senior Advisor on Disability Issues for the Union for Reform Judaismâ??s Religious Action Center and Department of Jewish Family Concerns. She is currently a member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) Justice, Peace and Religious Liberties Committee and chair of the CCAR Committee of Disability Awareness and Inclusion.

Reverend Al Mead is the Associate Pastor of New Hope Baptist Church and believes â??God has given us all the ability to Transcendâ?. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the 1996 Paralympic Organizing Committee and as a CBS Sports commentator for the Games. A Paralympic gold and silver medalist Mead was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.

Imam Furqan Muhammad is the Resident Imam at Masjid Al-Muminun in Atlanta. He possesses personal experience that has made him a tireless advocate for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Islamic community. Imam Muhammad currently serves as a member of the Board of the Interfaith Disability Connection

Ginny Thornburgh is Vice President and Director of the Religion and Disability Program at the National Organization on Disability in Washington, DC. Mrs. Thornburgh is a nationally recognized authority in matters at the intersection of religion and disability. Thornburgh is the author and editor of many insightful guides that focus on the inclusion of people with disabilities in congregational life. These guides include That All May Worship: An Interfaith Welcome To People With Disabilities (written with Ann Rose Davie), Loving Justice: The ADA and the Religious Community, and From Barriers to Bridges: A Community Action Guide for Congregations and People with Disabilities (Written with Janet Miller Rife).

Conference Agenda*

12:30 - 1:30 Registration and Box Lunch (Kosher lunches available)

1:30-1:40 Welcome and Invocation

1:40- 2:20 Reverend Al Mead

2:20- 3:10 Rabbi Lynne Landsberg

3:10- 3:40 Breakout Sessions led by Speakers

3:40- 3:55 Break

3:55- 4:40 What I Wish I Could Say to My Congregation About Welcoming a Person Like Me - Facilitated by Ginny Thornburgh

4:40-4:55 Break

4: 55- 6:00 Interfaith Worship with Challenge and close from Ginny Thornburgh

*Schedule subject to change

Registration details and fee information coming soon.

For more information visit www.interfaithdisability.org or email idc@bobbydodd.org.

The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta has done much work to become more inclusive of people with disabilities. The story of UUCA begins with the presence of one extraordinary young man and it continues today with a determination to continue on the journey toward full-inclusion of people with disabilities and their families.

Click here to read the success story.

Included with the story is a link to the the letter that the children of UUCA sent to the congregation’s Board of Directors about obstacles for children with disabilities who wanted to attend religious education. Read it and consider way the children in your congregation might be included in ability awareness.

Education is about the process of transforming the minds and the lives of the learners. I believe that bell hooks puts it best in the following quote:

To educate as the practice of freedom is a way of teaching that anyone can learn. That learning process comes easiest to those of us who teach who also believe that there is an aspect of our vocation that is sacred; who believe that our work is not merely to share information but to share in the intellectual and spiritual growth of our students. To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin.

For hooks there is something deeply sacred about learning. I think that this comes about because she believes that education is not simply about sharing information, but ultimately education is about giving students tools to encounter their world with hope, love and grace.

I think about hooks definition of education when I think about the purpose of disability awareness education. This education is offered to invite learners to approach difference with the ability to have empathy for someone whose life experience is different than ours.

There are many helpful resources out there for beginning the process of this education. I want to point you in the direction of a two of them.

A Unitarian Universalist Disability Awareness Curriculum for Adults

A Curriculum for School Age Children from the Anti-Defamation League

The key to this education is that it must be about more than a list of “dos” and “don’ts.” I find that all those lists do is confuse people and convince them that all people with disabilities want is to be treated with the niceties of political correctness.

Disability Awareness Education (Diversity Education) if it is to be successful should be focused on at least the following:

1) Raising awareness about the lived realities of people with disabilities and the people who love and support them.

2) Giving participants opportunities to see that there are hopeful possibilities for life lived in community with people with disabilities (and their families.)

3) Opening up the possibility that participants could be in relationships with people with disabilities. (Relationships break down barriers.)

Are there other things I have missed?

Do you know of other resources that are helpful in educating congregations and communities about people with disabilities? Are there ways that your community has engaged in this conversation that you have found to be particularly helpful?